Review by Denz

Overview

The overview has all it needs. A decent picture taken from the mission along with some descriptive, albeit intriguing text.

Intro

The Intro is a slick cinematic presentation accompanied by the memorable Ennio Morricone theme tune from the "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". Marred slightly in a couple of scenes by some texture problems that the "preloadCamera" command could have fixed.

Briefing

The briefing is comprehensive to say the least. There is background information on the current situation and biographies of your targets and the reported location of General Benitez. As well as instructions on how to use some of the special equipment that has been given to you for this mission. It's let down by the fact that a few spelling mistakes are present.

Mission

Guardian Angel is not your typical "lone wolf" mission. All the regular features are there; frantic firefights, plenty of sneaking around and the chance to blow stuff up, but there are several inclusions that make it rise above the crowd. The overall presentation of the mission is high. The author has meticulously scripted the mission to ensure that the story flows smoothly and that everything plays out like it should. The story is all important to this mission and the first scene is highly detailed and well thought out so it's a shame then that afterwards, it suffers from a lack of explanation as to why certain events that follow need to happen. This doesn't detract much from the mission though and it is still highly enjoyable to play. Complete an optional objective during the mission and you unlock the ability to play the final part of the mission as the character who assisted you at the beginning. This is a nice inclusion that helps to explain one of the mission's mysteries as well as add an element of replayability.

Outro(s)

After successfully completing the mission you are treated to the outro. Consisting of a short scene where the two protagonists of the story finally meet face to face and tantalizes with the fact that the story will continue.

Special

This mission benefits from particularly good scripting. The author has modified several Operation Flashpoint scripts for use in this mission. Apart from the scripts, there are custom voices throughout the mission and in both the Intro and the Outro.

Overall

There are some short comings to the story, but it still stands that Guardian Angel is an original and inventive mission that is well worth checking out. Enjoyable to play, tough in places, but never too frustrating. I'm looking forward to the next episode.

Comments

Well done LCD, I liked this mission while beta testing! Was very strange to hear shooting even though I was supposed to go in on my own..

Hope to see more of these replayable and enjoyable missions with proper (and useful) scripting.

#2

savedbygrace - 18 March 2008

This one I had to play twice. My first attempt was as usual, a carefully thought out approach plan involving recon and sneaking before the first shot was fired. I was so successful in the initial insertion that I began to wonder if the mission was going to get any more difficult. My answer came as I was required to traverse the flat, open terrain among the sparse vegetation toward the next occupied cluster of synthetic structures. Difficulty was increased apparently, not by scripting but by terrain. The soon reached erected structures were once again welcomed as the enemy seemed heavily guarding their own. A couple of more open plain dashes and another urban engagement left me satisfied already but the primary objective still needed attention. From this point on, I felt cheated out of my hard earned approach to the primary objective as a twist was more of a letdown than a memorable aid. After which I was flooded with a challenging task of escape that began as exciting and ended up being a long boring run to the exfiltration point with a shallow explanation of happenings. LCD did a good job of setting the mood during insertion and allowing player control to a certain extent. Some great new features were used that can be learned from and repeated without being the same. Note: There was a certain objective that I thought would fall into sequence as all other missions force them but as it happened..it did not. I missed it in my first run and since it seemed to have received some attention during the briefing, I thought that I was really missing out on something (perhaps a different ending?)so I decided to replay and search hard for it. Well, I found it and was very dissapointed to discover that it didn't change a thing nor did it offer any special cinematic. To sum it up? It started great and way above average and then lost it's luster at the primary objective. But it does offer some valuable learning. Thank you LCD for your time and effort.

#3

AA_Chriss - 06 November 2008

Probably one of the best missions i ever played... awesome job.... i wish that BIS would have made some of this kind of SP Mission for Arma.